MAGIC -at- LAKERS - 1-9-15 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Tariksanity!… After the Lakers 101-84 win, Tarik Black was trending on Twitter after his 17 minutes tonight. Welcome to L.A.

As the Magic hung around, trimming the lead down to just 3 at one point in the second half, the Lakers got some lift by their newly acquired rookie bigman.

Black took control of the paint on both ends of the floor, and the Lakers second unit dominated the fourth quarter 28-17 to blowout the Magic. He finished with 14 points and 9 boards in his half a game of play.

“He just came in with a ton of energy, that’s how he plays,” Scott said. “It really kind of elevated everyone else.” That’s what you want to hear from your coach.

The Laker bigmen dominated the glass 60-36, including an 18-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Good job, as well, by Jeremy Lin tonight, scoring 18 points to lead all scorers with Kobe out.


Hill -- -- He was hitting a pull-up jumper off the dribble tonight in addition to the flat-footed set shot we’re used to. He mixed in a drives and the set shot to have a more well-rounded offensive game. Aggressive first half, but he started to ball stop a bit in the second half. Scott said he thought Hill and Davis started walking up down the court a bit in the second half and so he sat them and they didn’t return. Of course, he couldn’t sit Tarik as he was dominating the paint. Good job by our bigs controlling the defensive glass. Both the starters and the bench each had 30 boards. The entire Magic team had just 32. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-12 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He powered in a layup off the two-man game with Price. He sank an 18-footer next time down. He missed one from the same spot a few possessions later. He hit a rare pull-up jumper off dribble in the horns set. He got tapped on a jumphook. He was rejected as he tried to throwdown after losing his man (Davis cleaned it up). He attacked to his left, got a little contact and hit the step-back jumper from 15 feet. He attacked down the lane to his left and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a 22-footer up against the shotclock. Good first half with 9 points on 4-8 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He attacked and bounced it to Ellington for a jumper. He missed a forced FT jumper when the offense stagnated. He missed a bunny in the lane but Ed cleaned it up. He bricked a pull-up jumper trying to create against the shotclock. Bad kickout after he tried to attack and pull it back out, layup the other way. He reversed off the great behind-the-back feed from Price.

Davis -- -- He was challenging shots and getting on the boards early in this one (3 blocks and 8 boards by halftime, 5 offensive). He needs to work on the counters in his post game as it looks like teams are scouting him for the lefty jumphook around the rim. Good job cleaning up the garbage tonight to pull out the double-double in 22 minutes and lead the team on the offensive glass and in shotblocks. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 10 boards (6 offensive), 1 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: Nice help D recovery to swat a layup away. Another nice challenge on a drive to alter a shot. He slammed down a missed Kelly layup. He swatted a layup off the glass with both hands and it led to a Price breakaway. He was swatted himself on a jumphook (time to add an up-and-under to the arsenal). He missed a layup when he and Lin worked the two-man game. He grabbed a loose ball when Hill was blocked and scored a layup. He grabbed a loose ball off Lin’s blocked shot and banked in the short one. He had 6 points and 8 boards (5 offensive) in the half. Second Half: He missed a rare midrange jumper from the left wing. He slammed when Kelly spotted him open in transition. He tipped in a Hill miss. Nice help D to alter a layup attempt by Kelly’s man.

Price -- -- Wearing the mask, he returned to the floor. I think he was happy he wore it because he said he got drilled in the nose hard early on but the mask saved him from the blow. A little early foul trouble that limited his minutes. Later he would run as the SG across Lin. Quiet game from him tonight, although he probably had the prettiest pass, a behind-the-back bounce pass off the two-man game between defenders to Hill for a layup. Both he and Lin were a little sloppy on the perimeter. Price’s mistakes led to bustout dunks on the other end. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He set up Hill for a layup off the two-man game. He got a switch with the shotclock low and swished the three. He missed a wing three off the dribble on his next attempt. He pushed out a Davis block and scored an And-1 layup on the break, he missed the FT. He hit a wide open 17-footer working off the screen. He crossed over and charged on the pass-off. Second Half: He missed a pull-up at the FT line in transition. He missed a wing three off the handoff. He picked up his fourth foul on a reach with 7:32 left in the third. Sweet behind-the-back bounce pass to Hill on the two-man game for a layup. He was stripped for a dunk the other way. Another turnover for an alley-oop dunk the other way. He missed Black who was wide open for a lob (we would get a shotclock violation on that set).

Kelly -- -- After not being in the rotation in the last game until getting some garbage time run, he led the Lakers in minutes tonight. He was finally looking more like himself in this one, sinking threes early on. He led all Lakers with 11 points in the first half. So the offense is starting to show a pulse again. I think he still is in swing pass mode a little too much versus attack-mode, but he pulled the trigger more tonight. Defensively, he took Tobias Harris at the SF (who torched us last time) and held him in check. “I thought he did a hell of a job on Tobias tonight defensively,” Scott said. Harris had 15 points on 16 shots. He mentioned he will use Kelly at the SF in an emergency, but thinks he’s a PF. I love seeing 8 boards from our SF spot. He said he’s still learning how to play that SF spot and come off screens, etc. Hopefully, he continues the progress. “I think my wind is coming back to me slowly,” he said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-10 shooting (3-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He attacked slowly and was blocked on a soft finish attempt. He choked a reverse to rob Hill of an assist on a backdoor play (but Davis slammed it down). He swished a corner three next time down. He swished a wing there on a kickout, not evening really bringing the ball down, just firing on the catch. He missed a wing three in transition. He posted up Ridnour and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a 60-foot heave at the buzzer, just short. He airballed a catch-and-shoot jumper just inside the three line (looked like he might have been fouled). He drained a corner three on the kickout from Lin in early offense. He had 11 points on 3-8 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He stripped Harris as he tried to rise up. He missed a runner on a kickout. He found Davis open in semi-transition for a dunk. Not close on a tough fade after pounding the dribble in the post too long (I think he was worried about a 5-count). He attacked with the shotclock low and drew FTs, he made both.

Ellington -- -- He forced it a bit too much tonight, sinking just 2 of his 9 attempts. He didn’t let the game come him, which he really has to with his inability to create for himself. He pressed and it showed. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-9 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: He missed a pull-up from the top of the key. He missed a corner jumper. He was blocked on a layup in a crowd. He missed a tough turnaround jumper, turning in air more than usual before releasing. He screeched to a halt and airballed the pull-up jumper (just lost his legs on that and should have regained his balance more before firing). Second Half: He sank a short baseline jumper off the Hill kickout. He got a nice bounce on a wing jumper next time down working the two-man game. He missed a sideline three. He forced and missed a three. XXX

Young -- -- “Just struggling to make shots,” Scott said, suggesting that Nick should come in a little early and get more shots up. Swaggy was missing some good looks early on, better than he usually gets or takes. If he’s struggling that bad, he needs to try to get to the hoop more, maybe grow a beard like Harden to confuse the refs and get whistles. Late in the game, the iso chucks were inviting the Magic to make a run. While he went 0-6 form three, he was able to get a few points at the line. When told he has made 25 FTs in a row, he said, “In a row? What’s the record?” Told it was 96, he laughed. “It ain’t about my freethrows, it’s about Booze and Tarik Black.” He gave Tarik a lot of love tonight and repeated his name again and again for fun. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-13 shooting (0-6 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He gave up a dunk to his man. He drew a charge in transition D. He got picked on the perimeter and fouled. He missed a sideline three. Wide open look in early offense and he hit the sideline jumper (those are the looks he needs to start a game). He swiped a perimeter pass as the Magic practically threw it to him. He missed a wide open three off the throwback play, still a good look. He attacked a seam and scored a layup with his left next time down. Wild, off-balance jumper from the FT line and he missed badly. He missed two threes on a possession. He missed another jumper. He missed a 30-footer up against the shotclock, got it back and charged over a smaller man. Second Half: He took a kickout, got the fly-by, then drew the FTs on the three as his man recovered, he made all three. He crossed over several times before jacking up and missing the three. He threw a pass away trying to hit Black on a set play (a lob would have been a dunk). He manufactured some more FTs, he made both. He missed a fading jumper. He missed an open 15-footer, uggh. He attacked and missed the fade, uggh.

Lin -- -- Asked if the game opened up for him Kobe out, he didn’t bite (besides he’s been playing a lot without Kobe lately). “That’s quite a leading question. For me whether he plays or whether he doesn’t play I try to be aggressive. It’s one of those things when you have it going the ball naturally finds you. The team caters to you, kind of gets you going or rides the momentum. I was just trying to stay aggressive, try to get everyone involved as much as I could while still attacking the basket. Really to be honest with you, I was just trying to attack, attack and read the defense.” A lot of notes for Lin tonight, which is usually a very good sign. Pretty good game except for the freethrow shooting and some of the passing to his bigmen in the post. With Kobe out and Price in foul trouble, Lin orchestrated a lot of the offense, leading the team with 6 assists but also 5 turnovers. He left more than a few points at the line tonight, so this should have been more like a 21-point game. Defensively, he did a very good job with 4 steals and 2 blocks. The blocks were on help D against bigmen. I was enjoying watching Tarik out there with Lin. He sets some good screens. Hopefully, we see this duo with more minutes. They’ve had very little time together as Tarik has played some SF in practice to fill out the roster. For those counting, they ran the two-man game with Davis twice. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-12 shooting (3-5 from three, 5-10 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He was picked by a bigman on the high screen for a dunk the other way, yikes. He swished a three off the Sacre handoff. Nice help D blocking a post-up in the paint. Poor post entry pass as Boozer was getting slightly fronted and it was picked off. Nice reach to swipe the ball on a weakside help sequence, he was fouled in transition and he made one FT. He attacked a seam, but couldn’t finish over his man. He missed an open three straight away. He was blocked on a drive and Davis cleaned it up. He sank a three on a kickout from Davis. He pushed it out with speed and hit Kelly for the corner three. He swiped the ball from Ridnour and was fouled as he pushed it out, he made one FT. Second Half: Another poor post entry pass, turnover. Another turnover trying to get it back to Black on the two-man game. He missed a tough three trying to beat the shotclock. He orchestrated the offense, curled around a screen off ball, got it back and drew FTs in the lane, he made both. He missed a layup on a two-for-one but Tarik tipped it in when the D had to collapse on the dribble penetration. He attacked the pressure and hit the pull-up 17-footer up against the shotclock. He drew a moving screen foul to get a stop. He attacked off the screen and scored the layup high off the glass. He faked his man on the three line after a kickout by Black and stepped in to draw FTs standing on the three line, he missed both. Nice D rejecting a reverse dunk attempt by the Magic center. He missed a wing jumper as he moved from right to left across the floor. We got it back, he attacked the paint and bounced to Black for the dunk, very nice. More FTs for Lin, he made just one again. He probed baseline, drew a crowd and threaded the needle to Boozer for the dunk. He spotted Boozer open for the jumper next time down. Sloppy pass to Tarik, turnover. He airballed a step-back jumper up against the shotclock. He ran the clock and drained the three as the crowd got their tacos.

Boozer -- -- Good job on the glass tonight. The Laker bigs completely dominated in that regard. “We were all embarrassed by how we played the other night,” Boozer said. He said controlling the boards was pretty key to helping the cause tonight. “We made them miss and we didn’t give up second opportunities,” he said. Defensively, Boozer was sagging off his man early on to give up some perimeter scores, but had some stronger post D later where he really held his own. He and Tarik finished the game as our bigman duo. They looked very fluid out there together. “He’s a hard-working guy,” Boozer said of him. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-12 shooting to go with 14 boards (2 offensive), 1 block and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: Quick first step across the defender’s body and he scored a layup on his first touch. He faced up, attacked and hit the short one-footed fade off the glass. He sank a high-arching fade in the paint. Second Half: He missed a fade in the lane. He attacked, spun and missed the jumphook. Nice interior feed to Black to set him up for FTs. He swished a 16-footer working across the FT line. He dunked off the drive and dish from Lin. He hit another 16-footer when Lin spotted him trailing. He missed a short one, got it back and tried to power it up again and missed. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a bank in the paint.

Clarkson -- -- Limited minutes tonight as we ran some Lin/Price combo out there. Scott also brought in Ellington early in the fourth. Clarkson does a good job moving his feet defensively, but still has work to do on that end. I think once he gets strength in his game to go with that, his D could be very good. A willing defender with quick feet, good length and strength can impact a game. Maybe having Price as a vet mentor will influence him, too, but I think getting rid of that typical rookie lack of strength will do a lot for him. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He probed off the two-man game, got the defender on his hip, took some contact and hit the pull-up jumper. Nice challenge on his man to force a bricked layup. He gave it right back not protecting the ball as he pushed it up court. Nice hustle to grab a loose ball and quickly fire it to Sacre under the hoop for FTs. He drew a moving screen on D. Second Half: He gave up easy points on a drive and Scott sat him shortly later.

Sacre -- -- He ran at the center spot with the second unit in the first half. Then Scott went to Tarik in the second the second half. Sacre had some moments on the offensive glass. He missed a couple of post-up attempts, but Tarik may have Sacre back to the bench cheering the team on for more and more minutes. Sacre’s still the best on the team at that by far. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: Good job battling on the offensive glass as the Lakers had four possessions in one trip down court, finally getting a Boozer jumper to drop. He posted up and wasn’t close on a jumphook (he short arms those badly sometimes). Clarkson found him under the hoop for FTs, he made one. He missed a jumphook off glass. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Black -- -- Career high scoring night with 14 points. “I thank coach so much for giving me the opportunity,” he said. Tarik got the second-half backup C spot tonight, parlayed that into stealing some of the starters’ minutes and made the most of his night. He was just a board shy of a double-double in very limited minutes. Loved the energy and activity (5 offensive boards). “That was awesome. That’s all I have to say. That was awesome,” Lin said of Tarik’s game. The two have a lot in common, having to work their way into league, getting cut by the Rockets and both lean on a strong religious influence. Best minutes of the game tonight were watching him on the floor. Tarik just outplayed the Magic (in addition to Sacre as backup C). I don’t know if Scott will give him the job as backup C after this performance and the one the other night, but he has clearly shown much more impact than Sacre. I appreciated the little things, like looking to put a body on someone when a shot goes up instead of watching the flight of the ball; setting hard screens instead of loose ones like some of our bigs who want their own shots; absorbing contact around the rim and finishing through it. He definitely plays bigger than his measurements. Scott said he’s going to shuffle all his bigs in and out and whoever plays the hardest will get the minutes. Tarik said he tries not set any expectations that he just goes out there and gives it his all. Good job getting to the line tonight. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-4 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards (5 offensive), 1 block and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He attacked across the lane and hit the jumphook. He tipped in the Lin missed drive when the D had to help. Great sequence clearing out of the lane to avoid a 3-second call as Boozer attacked, then he jumped back under the hoop to grab an offensive board and score an And-1, he made the FT. He might have got credit for a blocked shot that was actually blocked by the rim before he got there. He drew FTs getting hit on a high screen, he made both. He drew more FTs on an interior feed from Boozer, he made both again. He took a bounce pass from Lin and slammed in a crowd (should have been an And-1). He crashed the glass off the Boozer miss and was held, he made one FT. Great help D rejection and we controlled it.

Scott -- -- After missing a couple of shots, the Lakers were scoring with ease early in the first. They pulled out to a 17-8 lead when the timeout came midway through the quarter… He brought in Boozer and Young for Ellington and Davis... He brought in Lin up 11 when Price picked up his second foul with 4:20 left… Kelly finally looking like himself out there offensively… Sacre in for Hill, Lakers up 6… The Lakers led 29-20 after the first quarter… He started the Sacre, Boozer, Young, Clarkson, Lin unit… He sat Boozer at the 8 minutes mark for Davis, Lakers up 7… Up 38-32, with just under 7 minutes left, he brought in Price, Ellington and Hill to go with Young and Davis… Kelly back in shortly later for Nick… He sat Price for Lin the last couple minutes… The Lakers led 54-45 at the half, cruising in this game so far. They held the Magic to just 37.5 percent shooting and forcing 10 turnovers… Some turnover-prone ball by the Lakers (Price and Hill) to open the third and the lead was trimmed slightly, forcing a timeout… He sat Price for Lin and Hill for Boozer and Davis for Black up 7 with 5 minutes left… The Lakers led 73-67 heading into the fourth. He started the Black, Boozer, Young, Clarkson, Lin unit. Young matching up with Frye to start the quarter… He sat Clarkson quickly and went with Ellington as the lead was cut to 3. The Lakers extended it back to 12 on a 9-0 run… Young out, Kelly in. Lakers up 10… Lakers dominating the offensive glass… Tarik killing it for the Lakers… Price in for Ellington now… Nice D out of a timeout to get a 24-second violation… The Magic had just 76 FGAs tonight…

[fafan]

1st, thanks as always. Easy win
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"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.

[SweetP]

Great game for Black.
Thanks DB.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[Shaber]

Thanks DB! What's up with the emoticon in the title?
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[ggeasy]

[SweetP]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[mhan00]

Sacre may never play again.

[fafan]

[DancingBarry]

Ha. My laptop was freezing and for the first time ever, I have my template set at :-(( this season.

Just realized now I forgot to change it when I was struggling to post the recap.

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Laker_Town]

Agree with you about Tarik.

Although I only saw the last five minutes, I saw him look for a man to box out in every shot attempt. saw the hard screens and not those soft, almost sideways screens that boozer loves.

He's got some strength. He runs to post and runs hard.

I'm intrigued

[Honeybadger81]

are Byron and Spoelstra have the same cross arm posture? a Riley signature pose?

[rwongega]

A good game. Lots better than the last one I ever went to.
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http://media.giphy.com/media/zNyBPu5hEFpu/giphy.gif
http://bartsblackboard.com/files/2009/11/The-Simpsons-05x18-Burns-Heir.jpg

RIP Jonathan Tang
RIP Alex Gruenberg

Free KBCB

[Lorenzomax]

Black was already awesome in the Rockets. Nice to see his game continued.

[fiendishoc]

Nice to see Byron closing the game with the players who were playing well (Black, Lin, Kelly, Boozer, but especially Black) rather than the normal rotation. It worked out.

[songunsw]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[sf2099]

Thanks DB. Awesome recap as usual.

We are truly spoiled by your work!

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[DShotMaker1824]

Great Recap DB, Black was big last night. Sacre should be back to what he does best and that's cheer-leading.
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[Crystal99]

:

[bws94]

DB, is that a whip that Byron has in his emoticon?

Great, thanks. Tarik played wonderfully, don't know what is up with Kelly getting so many minutes but he played pretty well.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Great that a newbie like Tarik Black can come out and box out on every play, set hard screens, and play with energy. Other Laker bigs should take some notes. I hope Tarik sustains this effort, it sounds like the attitude is there for him.

[Unstable]

Thanks db,

My likes... Black is turning out fine and Lin is hopefully stabilizing

Dislikes... Our starting group is still under performing,

Current wish is that hopefully one of his assistant coaches will be able to convince BS that it may be a good idea to play more of Davis Lin combo, especially in the light that we will need to periodically rest Kobe...well maybe 3 more games to go
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Calling another person idiotic does not necessarily mean you are less idiotic than that person. The best way to improve oneself is to focus on the positive things in life and build on them.